Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,288, settled in 1846.
The best of Point Roberts’ subject grades are an A− for walkability, health, and the outdoors; the weakest is a C− for incomes. 32% of residents are 65 or older in Point Roberts, above both Washington’s towns (16%) and U.S. towns (18%). Only 32 of Washington’s 397 towns score higher on hazard risk. Lily Point Marine Reserve, at 134 acres with 2.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Point Roberts has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Point Roberts beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Point Roberts | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4% | 9% |
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Point Roberts is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1861 and 4 maps from 1952 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Point Roberts is unincorporated, so Whatcom County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Point Roberts.
For adults 18 to 64 in Point Roberts, the share who have no health insurance is 5.3%. CDC measures, 31 in all: Point Roberts beats Washington on 15 and trails on 8. Among 286 Washington towns, just 3 have a higher share of adults who had a checkup this year than Point Roberts. In Point Roberts, just over a quarter of adults have obesity, and 14% report frequent mental distress.
| Point Roberts | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 33% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 33% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 16% |
| What stands out | Point Roberts | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4% | 9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.2% | 10.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 13.2% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its one school is below. The public schools here belong to the Blaine School District.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Point Roberts PrimaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–2 | Grades K–2 | 5 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
Only 2 of the 286 Washington towns we compare have a lower share of children under 18 than Point Roberts. In Point Roberts, 45% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more.
| Point Roberts | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 7.5% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 58.2 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 45% | 30% | 29% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.4 points. Across Washington, 49.6% of residents are women. Among residents 25 to 34, 85% are men (WA 52%).
| Point Roberts | WA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 5% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 2.4% | 9.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.3% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.5% | 15.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 5.6% | 14.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.1% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 26.2% | 12% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 19.3% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12.5% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3% | 7.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 19% | 21.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 24.9% | 21% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.4% | 10% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 26.9% | 24% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.8% | 15.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,300, single groups can be off by several points
On the market in Point Roberts: a median 4 days to sell. Among households in the town, 86% are owner-occupiers. Point Roberts’ rent at the middle of the market is $1,095 a month.
| Point Roberts | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 86% | 71% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,095 a month | $1,739 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Roughly one working resident in three has a job in Point Roberts itself. This Washington town had 151 jobs in 2023, down 50 from 2013. In Point Roberts, the average commute is 33 minutes. The top destinations are Bellingham (12%), Seattle (5%) and Everett (2%).
| Point Roberts | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 7.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $78,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Point Roberts’ peak summer temperature stands at 73°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The national flood insurance program has paid 23 claims in Point Roberts since 1982. FEMA expects less storm and flood damage in the town than in 67% of U.S. communities. Federal aid has come to Point Roberts households in 2 declared disasters; the latest was in 2025. Just over half of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from earthquakes, followed by inland flooding at 40%.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Point Roberts’ trail network density comes in at 1.0 miles per square mile. 6.2 miles of trail wind through 4 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves here: 4, covering 216 acres.
| Point Roberts | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 7% | 4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lily Point Marine Reserve | 2.6 mi | 134 |
| 2. Lighthouse Marine Park | 0.7 mi | 21 |
| 3. Monument Park | 0.3 mi | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Point Roberts; the nearest are
About 9 of every 100 Point Roberts residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Washington.
Census-designated place in Washington, United States
Point Roberts is a pene-exclave of the US state of Washington on the southernmost tip of the Tsawwassen peninsula, south of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The area, which had a population of 1,191 at the 2020 census, is reached from the rest of the United States by traveling 25 mi (40 km) through Canada, or without passing through Canada by boat or private airplane. It is a census-designated place in Whatcom County, Washington, with a post office, and a ZIP Code of 98281. Direct sea and air connections with the rest of the U.S. are available across Boundary Bay. Point Roberts was created when the United Kingdom and the United States settled the Pacific Northwest American–Canadian bord…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
That is 4.7 years of the area's median household income ($81,784 across the Bellingham, WA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.